Infants are perfectly created to absorb information at a rate that far exceeds what we are capable of as adults. There is so much they have to learn and their minds (and bodies!) are ready to take on the challenge. Their brains grow faster in the first year of life than at any other time. Here are some ideas of how you can make the most of this, and begin educating your infant early to give them the best start in life.
The Unborn Baby
Infant education starts before they are born. The word ‘educating’ conjures up images of desks and textbooks, but for your unborn baby, it’s all a lot simpler.
- From 20 weeks: Your baby’s hearing is fully developed, and you can take advantage of this by playing gentle music for them, singing or reading to them and chatting to them regularly. Early exposure (from the 5fifth month of pregnancy) to music has been linked to advanced math skills, good memory, and focus, as well as foreign language aptitude, focus, to stimulate a baby’s brain development starting in the fifth month of pregnancy to the second year
- From 28 weeks: Your baby is usually big enough for you to feel through your skin. Gently massage your baby through your belly and press back softly when you feel your baby pushing against the wall of your abdomen.
The Newborn Baby
Newborns are constantly absorbing information from their surroundings. During the early days, your baby soon learns to associate your touch, your voice and your face with comfort, their hunger being met and the feeling of safety. Newborns will recognize mom or dad’s voice from hearing you speak while they were still in the womb.
Infant Stimulation – How A Baby Learns
Infant stimulation covers any activity that stimulates your baby’s five senses – smell, taste, sight, sound, and touch. Engaging your baby’s senses will not only improve her attention span, memory, and curiosity but also have a positive effect on her nervous system development and the development of her motor skills. All this means that your baby is likely to reach developmental milestones faster.
Top 4 Things To Remember When Teaching Your Baby
Their Immediate Surroundings = Their First Classroom
Your baby will take great delight in everything they are exposed to. So much so that she’ll try to explore it with her hands, mouth, nose, ears, and fingers.
Interaction Trumps Observation
Simply put – play with your baby! Playing with your child will spark the development of his imagination. Babies learn by copying what they see, so the more involved you are in doing things with them, the more they’ll learn.
Attentiveness Is Your Window Of Opportunity
Learn to recognize and make use of the moments when your baby is awake, calm and attentive. This is the best state for them to absorb information and learn new things. A baby that is fussing, over-tired or hungry will be too fractious to learn.
Again, Again! Repetition Is Key To Infant Learning
Repetition is one of the best ways to help your baby remember information. Children between 4 and 18 months old are the ones who benefit the most from repetition. This goes for songs, stories, books, games … everything you do with your infant can teach them through repetition.
Early Education And Day Care
You understand how important it is to start teaching your baby while they are still very young. You believe in the benefits of Infant Education. But what happens when you have to send your baby to daycare? Will they focus on the most important aspects of infant childcare?At Providence Children’s Academy, we provide endless opportunities for your infant to learn through playing with our age-appropriate, hands-on, curriculum-based, methodology. Our Academy is an outstanding ‘early education’ choice! Take a virtual tour of Providence Children’s Academy to see for yourself, or contact us for more information.